But that hasn’t been true for a long time.
I was reminded of that saying when like everyone else; I came across the powerful cover of the latest edition of TIME magazine. I was exposed to it, I guess like many others, even before I could make out the magazine itself.
It got me thinking. A picture is not worth a thousand words, it is worth so much more; so very much more.
One picture is worth exposure in thousands of newspapers that very same day, all around the world and in tens of different languages. Innumerable internet posts, shares, responses and comments on every social platform available – with engagement reaching sky high sparking discussions/criticisms/reviews/remarks/commentaries.
At the end of the day, it’s all about one BIG idea; a fabulous picture and breathtaking cover. Exactly that which every magazine is supposed to deliver once a week…
The latest cover of TIME magazine reminds us all, of the incredible importance of the magazine cover. It’s the magazine’s display window – the ultimate attention capturer, while right and left hundreds of other magazines are vying for your attention. A magazine cover as magazine covers were meant to be: strong, salient, opinionated; argument inducing; a tribute to the concept that is a “cover”.
In the past, magazine covers were the focal points of a brilliant idea encapsulated into a dazzling piece of art direction accompanied by a razor-sharp headline. Those mythological covers not only made history, but more than once even entered the pantheon of some of the world’s most preeminent museums. All you have to do is think back to George Lois’s wonderful covers for Esquire magazine, and the unforgettable exhibition at the MOMA. These covers, more than anything else, were a testament to great journalism; journalism in its purest and most cutting-edge form.
Today however, a quick glance over at the newsstand and you may have to cover your eyes and avert your gaze for the thousands of texts and words smeared over every cover page. All headlines screaming at you, in all colors of the rainbow. Words that were meant to promote but do the exact opposite, attenuating and blurring their points of difference in place of accentuating them; words that shrewdly and loudly the lack of a real idea. Yes, a pretty face does still sell, but when everyone uses the same technique, it works a lot less well and most importantly, it’s boring.
And then TIME magazine comes with a picture that is worth only a “thousand words”….but so it seems, is worth a lot more requests for subscriptions. It doesn’t only work in the brick and mortar world of magazine selling but also in the demanding world of weekly subscription selling. Not really surprising considering that a cover picture has always been about impulse marketing, just like the impulse marketing of sweets and candies practiced at the check out registers in supermarkets: three seconds flat to see, be overcome and buy. What’s the wonder then that it works for the business of selling magazine subscriptions too.
Once upon a time, a picture was worth a thousand words.
Today, however, a picture is worth a million media impressions.








